Scott Walker (singer)

Scott Walker
Walker on Dutch TV, 1968
Background information
Birth name	Noel Scott Engel
Born	(1943-01-09)January 9, 1943 Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.
Died	March 22, 2019(2019-03-22) (aged 76) London, England
Genres	Pop rock avant-garde experimental
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter record producer multi-instrumentalist
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar keyboards
Years active	1958–2019
Labels	Philips/Fontana Columbia Drag City Virgin 4AD
Website	4ad.com/artists/scottwalker

Noel Scott Engel (January 9, 1943 – March 22, 2019),^[1] better known by his stage name Scott Walker, was an American-British singer-songwriter and record producer who resided in England. Walker was known for his emotive voice and his unorthodox stylistic path which took him from being a teen pop icon in the 1960s to an avant-garde musician from the 1980s to his death.^[2][3] Walker's success was largely in the United Kingdom, where he achieved fame as a member of pop trio the Walker Brothers, who scored several hit singles, including two number ones, during the mid-1960s, while his first four solo albums reached the top ten during the later part of the decade, with the second, Scott 2, reaching number one in 1968. He lived in the UK from 1965 onward and became a UK citizen in 1970.^[4]

After the Walker Brothers split in 1967, he began a solo career with the album Scott later that year, moving toward an increasingly challenging style on late-1960s baroque pop albums such as Scott 3 and Scott 4 (both 1969).^[5][6] After sales of his solo work started to decrease, he reunited with the Walker Brothers in the mid-1970s.^[2][3] The reformed band achieved a top ten single with "No Regrets" in 1975, while their last album Nite Flights (1978) marked the beginning of Walker taking his music in a more avant-garde direction. After a few years hiatus, Walker revived his solo career in the mid-1980s, progressing his work further towards the avant-garde;^[6][7][8] of this period in his career, The Guardian said "imagine Andy Williams reinventing himself as Stockhausen".^[3] Walker's 1960s recordings were highly regarded by the 1980s UK underground music scene, and gained a cult following.

Walker continued to record until 2018. He was described by the BBC upon his death as "one of the most enigmatic and influential figures in rock history".^[9]